Water use - hissing G-Max Korky 528 fill valve - Quiet Fill

Last winter I installed a new Korky brand float valve in the basement toilet. It had a weird hissing sound but the water wasn't rising so I thought it was just annoying. In march I got tired of the annoying hissing, went and bought another one.....installed new one.......still hissed. Ok, I'll live with it.

Around July 2009 my water usage started to climb. Usual use for the three of us was 3,500 / sometimes 4,000. The August water invoice showed 6,000 gallons. Ok, maybe my son took too many long showers.

Each month the usage has increased. Last invoice was 10,000 gallons...yikes. This invoice showed 12,000 gallons. What is going on?

So yesterday I started the search. Shut off the supply to the house, checked the meter, meter shows no flow to home. Good - no leaks outside.

Turned the house main back on / checked meter, shows water flow. Hm?

Went in and turned water off to the basement toilet with the hissing Korky valve / checked meter, meter shows no flow.

Ok, that is weird because the water level is right on the line. Some food coloring in the tqank was in order. Waited, waited, waited, several hourse passed. No coloring in the bowel.

So maybe the new flapper valve is leaking. Turned off the valve to the toilet. Let the thing sit all night. In the morning the water is still right on the line.

For me to be using an extra 7,000 gallons a month from a leaking flapper valve, that tank should have been empty.

So the hissing of the Korky fill valve could just be air in the lines. Could the movement of the air through the lines cause the little meter dial to spin and therefore cause the meter numbers to move.

This is strange and I'm no newbie to this stuff. I've worked on maintenance crews, albeit that was 40 years ago but I am still mechanically inclined.

The hissing sound is probably NOT coming from the toilet, that is just where you hear it. The sound may be a cracked pipe under the floor and the sound is being transmitted to the toilet where it is amplified so you hear it.

Pulled the tube and let it run into the tank and not the refill tube.
It stopped running when the tanks fill line was reached. Let it sit for a while, came back and the tank water had not risen one bit.

Put the tube back into the refill.

For some odd reason, the hissing is gone. I did make one more adjustment downward on the Korky. It still fills to the line on the tank but there is no hissing.

Kind of makes me long for the days when you just had the floating ball to adjust.

Crud can cause the seal on any toilet to leak a little. Sometimes it will flush away on its own, sometimes you have to manually clean it off, and sometimes, you just need to replace the cap seal (this works for the Korky Quietfill). The cap seal is available at Lowes for less than $3, so not a bad thing to have sitting around for the time when it does need to be replaced. The flapper valves don't last forever, either, so I like to keep one of those around as well.

Today, I did pull it apart, cleaned the screan and the valve diaphram. They were perfectly clean.

Since the other day the hissing had stopped but then this morning all H broke lose and the valve wasn't closing and the tank was filling past the tank fill hole.

In the past 7 months this is the second Korky valve to go crazy. Both same way and same condition.

Think I'll go get the old brass/copper fill valve and the ballcock. At least I'll know I have a machined metal valve. What I am thinking is the toilet is the first connection to the main and catches any silt that comes by. Who knows?

When at the store there was another guy with the same story as mine. He went through two fill valves in quick order. He thinks it is because the water company has been doing some back flow cleaning.

Crud can cause the seal on any toilet to leak a little. Sometimes it will flush away on its own, sometimes you have to manually clean it off, and sometimes, you just need to replace the cap seal (this works for the Korky Quietfill). The cap seal is available at Lowes for less than $3, so not a bad thing to have sitting around for the time when it does need to be replaced. The flapper valves don't last forever, either, so I like to keep one of those around as well.

Two things to check: make sure that the refill hose is attached to the clip, and not just stuffed down the overflow tube; check your water pressure - if it is very high, the valve may not be able to shut off.

Two things to check: make sure that the refill hose is attached to the clip, and not just stuffed down the overflow tube; check your water pressure - if it is very high, the valve may not be able to shut off.

Think I have the answer but it worked fine for twenty three years with its current plumbing.

I just noticed that the water supply to the toilet "T"s in before the house pressure regulator. There is a regulator outside in the meter pit.

I am guessing that the pressure is too high coming straight from the water company meter pit. I'm really not into doing any new joint sweating but I am thinking about a different fill valve. I wonder if the old copper/brass valve with the ballcock can take more pressure?

Did you try replacing the cap like was suggested way back at the beginning of this thread? Did you try placing the hose at it's proper position? If you lift the hose up, does it stop? If it does, that's your answer. Install it like the manufacturer says.

Did you try replacing the cap like was suggested way back at the beginning of this thread? Did you try placing the hose at it's proper position? If you lift the hose up, does it stop? If it does, that's your answer. Install it like the manufacturer says.

Well it has been three days now and the Fluidmaster is quiet and working. Weird that thwo different Korky towers didn't work and one new cap. Korky's are around $13 and Fluid master is around $7.90. Hm?

The only thing about the Fluidmaster is that the tower part it isn't tall enough. My tank is probably 40 years old, is taller than the new ones and holds more water. The Fluidmaster will only allow water to fill to with in two inches of the water line. I have the setting to maximum float height.

Oh well, it flushes fine and I'll save a bit more water. It'll help make up for the $100 that the Korky wasted.

I still wonder if this is somehow being caused by high water pressure. You say it is tied in before the regulator. I don't know what sort of pressure the valves can take indefinitely. If the water authority made any changes recently that changed the local line pressure that might explain why you started experiencing the problem.

The fluidmaster has two adjustments for height...the fine one you adjusted on the float, and a second one to adjust the total height of the tower...if I remember correctly, you twist the whole thing like a screw, and the thing expands. You may need to remove it from the tank to have enough clearance to do it. It is described in the instructions, which you probably didn't read...